


A Day in Central City

by Bandgeek18



Series: Speed Without Sound [2]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bonding, Deaf Wally, Wally is adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 15:10:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11443458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandgeek18/pseuds/Bandgeek18
Summary: Wally spends the day visiting Central City with Barry.





	A Day in Central City

Wally was so excited that he was going to Central City. It was the home of the Flash! The fastest man alive! He was wearing his Flash t-shirt and carrying his favorite action figure. His dad crouched down and put his hands on his son’s shoulders. He pointed at Wally, then held his hands down at the bottom of his chest and swung his hands back and forth. ‘YOU BEHAVE.’

Wally nodded. ‘YES DAD.’ His dad gave him a stern look and Wally nodded earnestly. Rudy didn’t want to diminish his son’s excitement, but he wanted to convey how important was Wally not run off lichee always did at the house. Wally's mom got his attention and took his dad’s place in his line of sight. 

She made a ‘Y’ with one hand and nodded it up and down twice, then made two fists and brought them together, then signed Barry’s name. ‘STAY WITH B-A-R-R-Y.’

Wally nodded again. ‘YES MOM.’ His mom gave him a hug. Someone tapped his shoddier and he turned around. He broke out into a grin when he saw Barry. ‘HELLO.'

‘HELLO.’ Barry held his hands toward his chest and rolled them forward, then pointed at Wally. ‘HOW YOU?' This made Wally stare at him for a minute. “Did I do it wrong?” he asked Mary. Wally tapped him, bringing Barry’s attention back. 

He pointed to himself, then held his hand with his palm facing his chest and quickly swiped his middle finger on his chest a couple of times, before raising both his hands up. ‘I FEEL WONDERFUL.’ 

Barry stood up to address Wally’s parents. ‘I’ll have him back after dinner.” 

“Ok. Be careful,” Mary said. 

“You have my word, nothing will happen to him. I won’t let him out of my sight.” 

“Central is just such a big city and-“

“I know every cop in the place. Wally and I will be perfectly safe.” 

“He’ll be fine Mary,” Rudy said, briefly ruffling his son’s red hair. 

Mary nodded. “Ok.” She gave her son one more hug. 

Barry looked down at Wally. ‘HOW YOU SIGN R-E-A-D-Y?’

Wally beamed and made an ‘R’ with each hand, put them on one side of his body, then moved them to the other side of his body. Barry copied him, only to get Wally putting his hand in the air by his head with the fingers open and then closing it; bringing the fingers together. ‘LET’S GO!’ Barry didn’t quite understand the sign, but Wally grab this hand and dragged him towards the door. He laughed and allowed himself to be dragged outside. When Wally got outside and discovered his aunt wasn’t there. He tugged on Barry’s arm to get his attention. ‘WHERE AUNT I-R-I-S?’

‘WORK.’ Some politician had gotten caught up in a potentially career ending scandal and Iris was spending her day interviewing his aides and trying to get an interview with the man himself. He pointed to himself and then Wally. He was pretty sure it may have been a little abstract, but Wally was a smart kid. He caught on to what Barry was trying to say and grinned. Apparently satisfied, he let Barry buckle him into the car. He kept a tight grip on his Flash action figure as they pulled away from his house. Once they started driving on the highway though, he set it down and started signing excitedly. He pointed to himself, then made half a square around his upper body, across his forehead, and down his torso; made two V’s and moved them each in a circle; then bent his fingers like he was measuring the height os something and he moved his hand up from his chest to above his head, then finally slanted his hands so his fingers tips touched, then moved them apart, moved them over and repeated the motion. ‘I NEVER VISIT BIG CITY.’ 

Barry caught some of it in the rearview mirror, superspeed allowing him to do so without crashing, but he wasn’t able to try and respond. From what he could tell it didn’t matter though because he didn’t know any of the signs Wally was signing. So he kept his hands on the wheel and settled for just watching Wally every few minutes. Barry’s lack of response didn’t hider the boy’s enthusiasm. He went on and on about all the things he hoped to see and how he’d spent the last few days thinking about this trip. He only stopped once they actually entered the city. After noticing a lack of activity from the back seat Barry looked back and laughed. Wally was looking out the window in amazement, holding his Flash action figure up to look too. Wally tapped his feet excitedly. Keystone was a city too, but not like Central. Central had tall buildings that touched the sky, which they didn’t have in Keystone. Barry kept glancing back, smiling at the boy’s happiness. Their first stop was his lab at the police station. Considering how much Wally loved science, Barry figured this would make him happy. 

They soon reached the Central City Police Station. Barry parked in the employee section and let Wally out of the car. Wally looked at the building, then at the Barry. He tucked his Flash action figure under his arm for a second. ‘POLICE.’

Barry nodded, smiling. ‘YES POLICE. He considered what he wanted to say next, then signed, ‘HOW YOU SAY W-A-N-T?’ Wally held his hands out with his palms facing up, then pulled his hands back towards his body. ‘HOW YOU SIGN S-E-E?’ Wally made a ‘V’, putting one of his fingers on the corner of his eye and the other on his cheek, then pulled it away from his face. ‘YOU WANT SEE MY L-A-B?’ Wally nodded and started bouncing. Barry laughed and put his arm around the kid, leading him inside. He flashed his ID at the guard, who Wally waved to. The guard waved in reply.

“New friend Allen?” he asked, handing the ID back.

“He’s my girlfriend’s nephew. I’m watching him for the day.”

“Have fun.” He unlocked the door and Barry led Wally into the building. They had to go through the bullpen to get to the stairs that led to the forensics labs. Most people merely nodded to Barry as he passed, too busy with their own work to talk. Not everyone though. 

“Hi Allen,” one of the detectives said. 

“Hey Jones,” Barry said. “How’re you?”

“Same old. Who’s your friend?”

“This is Wally West, Iris’ nephew. I’m watching him for the day.”

Charlie knelt down and held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Detective Charlie Jones.” Wally looked at his hand, then up at Barry with confusion. Charlie frowned as he stood up. “Something wrong with him?”

“No he’s just….Wally’s deaf.”

“Ahh.” 

Barry felt a tug on his hand and looked down. Wally looked up at him in confusion. ‘WHO HE? HE POLICE?'

‘YES. C-H-A-R-L-I-E.’ 

Wally looked back at Detective Jones. ‘NICE MEET YOU C-H-A-R-L-I-E.’

“He says it’s nice to meet you,” Barry translated. 

Charlie’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “I never knew you knew sign language Allen.”

“I don’t really. I know a little from being around Wally.”

“I see.” He noticed the action figure in Wally’s hands and smiled. “I also see he’s a fan of our scarlet speedster.”

“Hehe,” Barry chuckled nervously. “Yeah…”

“What’re you two doing today?”

“I’m going to show Wally my lab, then lunch. Then I thought he’d like to see the Flash museum. We’re having dinner with Iris tonight.”

“You two have fun.” 

“We will.” Barry guided Wally through the rest of the bull pen to the stairs. They walked up to the third floor and Barry quickly swiped his ID to get onto the floor. The door unlocked and he ushered Wally inside. A small gasp came from the silent boy, catching Barry by surprise. He smiled down at Wally, tapping his back to get his attention. ‘YOU LIKE?’

Wally nodded eagerly. ‘I LIKE. YOU WORK HERE?’

‘YES.’ He guided Wally over to his work station. Wally broke away from his grasp and examined every piece of equipment carefully. ‘WHAT THIS?’ 

'M-I-C-R-O-S-C-O-P-E.’

‘WHAT THIS?’

‘C-E-N-T-R-I-F-U-G-E.’

They spent the next half hour doing this. Wally would examine a piece of equipment, then ask Barry what it was. Barry would then spell it out to the best of his ability, then Wally would examine it again. They repeated this process as they moved slowly around the room and Wally loved every minute of it. He’d never seen so much sophisticated science equipment before. He really wanted to see how all of it worked, so after he went back to the beginning and pointed to the centrifuge. ‘HOW WORK?’

Barry thought about it. ‘HOW YOU SIGN S-P-I-N?’ Wally pointed one finger up at the ceiling, then spun his other finger around it. He looked at the centrifuge, then at Barry. 

‘C-E-N-T-R-I-F-U-G-E SPIN?’

‘YES.’ So they went through all the equipment again with Wally asking how everyone worked. Barry did his best to explain, but he ended up fingerspelling a lot of his answers. Wally didn’t seem to mind though, and in fact he really didn’t. He was happy to have someone to talk about science things with. Once they finished going through all the equipment a second time he turned to look up at Barry. 

‘WHERE E-V-I-D-E-N-C-E?’ Barry smiled and led Wally back out of the room. They walked down the hall and he pointed to the door where the evidence locker was. He closed his fingertips together and touched his right shoulder, then moved his hand across his body to his left one; pointed one finger up on each hand and flicked them forward; then held one hand up with his palm facing his body and his thumb tucked down, then tapped it once with his other hand, then put the tips of his fingers in he space between his fingers and his thumb. ‘WE GO INSIDE?’ Barry gave him a look and Wally knew the man hadn’t understood him, so he repeated the question, this time fingerspelling it. 

‘NO.’ Wally pouted, but Barry simply smiled and led the boy back to his lab. He couldn’t just take a random kid into the evidence room. It violated at least half of the procedures and probably a few laws too. Instead, he got Wally set up at the microscope and gave him a couple of things to look at. The first was a sample of human blood, which Wally was fascinated by. He spent ten minutes examining the circles laid out in front of him. Next was a couple of pieces of hair. The strange, almost tube-like structure was amazing to Wally. The last thing Barry let him look at was a fingernail. Wally moved the dish it was sitting in around so he could closely examine every part of it. When he was finished he smiled up at Barry. ‘YOU LIKE?’

‘YES.’

‘HOW YOU SIGN C-O-L-L-E-C-T?’ Wally held his right hand in front of his chest with his palm facing up, then swept his left hand to it, like was gathering things up in his hand. ‘HOW YOU SIGN F-I-N-G-E-R-P-R-I-N-T?’ Wally thought about it, then shook his head. Barry was surprised there were some signs Wally didn’t know. The kid seemed to know how to say everything. Unfazed though, he pressed on with his question. ‘YOU WANT TO LEARN TO COLLECT F-I-N-G-E-R-P-R-I-N-T?’ Wally giggled, which took Barry by surprise. He gave the boy a confused look but Wally simply waved his hand and answered Barry’s question.

‘YES!’ 

Barry found a fingerprint collection kit, and dug out one of his charts on fingerprint identification. First, he took Wally’s hand and pressed his palm into the surface of the table. Thankfully his work table was actually a pretty good surface to collect fingerprints on. Next, he pressed his own hand on the table. Then he grabbed his bottle of fingerprint powder and skillfully sprinkled the powder over where he’d pressed his hand. Wally watched his carefully. Barry handed the bottle to him and the kid copied him, sprinkling the powder over where his hand had been pressed into the table. Next Barry took his brush and began brushing his prints with practiced ease. He hand the brush to Wally who did his best to copy the man. Wally smiled when he saw the shapes of his fingerprints on the table. He tugged on Barry’s shirt to get his attention and pointed excitedly at his prints. Truthfully, it wasn’t a great job, but Barry still smiled and nodded in encouragement. Next Barry handed Wally a piece of tape. He showed the boy how to carefully press the tape into the prints and lift it to pull the print off the surface. Wally tried, but unfortunately only got a partial print. He looked at Barry disappointedly, but Barry simply handed him a new piece of tape. It took Wally three tries to finally pull up a full print. 

Next Barry placed both their prints on the paper. Wally smiled at the paper, clearly proud of himself. Barry grabbed his chart and placed it next to the prints. He knew this would probably be easier to teach Wally if he’d had him use prints from ink, but this was much closer to they way Barry had been forced to do it in once of his forensics classes in college. It was also more fun. He grabbed a red pen that would stand out on the prints and handed Wally a magnifying glass. He pointed to the arch on the chart. ‘A-R-C-H.’ Using his magnifying glass he quickly identified one in his own print and circled it. Wally leaned over so he could see it. Next Barry pointed to the loop. ‘L-O-O-P.’ He made a careful circle around a small one on his and leaned back so Wally could get a good look. Lastly, he pointed to the whorl on the chat. ‘W-H-O-R-L.’ He located on on his print and circled it. Wally also examined this carefully. ‘A-R-C-H.’ Wally nodded and looked for one in his print. He found a small one and pointed to it with the pen. Barry leaned over and nodded. Wally beamed proudly and circled it. ‘L-O-O-P.’ Wally nodded and scoured his fingerprint. It took him almost 15 minutes, but he finally thought he’d found one. He pointed to it and Barry leaned over to check. He shook his head. ‘W-H-O-R-L.’ Wally looked disappointed but quickly leaned back over his work to find one. Another 15 minutes later he found one and pointed to it. Once Barry checked he nodded. ‘YES.’ Wally had a bubbly feeling inside of him as he circled it. ‘W-H-O-R-L.’ This didn’t take Wally long at all since he just had to relocate the one he’d found earlier. Barry nodded and he circled it. ‘YOU LIKE?’

‘I LIKE!’

‘GOOD.’ Barry checked his watch. It was almost noon. On cue his stomach growled. ‘HOW YOU SIGN H-U-N-G-R-Y?’ 

Wally placed his hand against the top of his chest then pulpit down his torso, cupping his fingers by the time he reached his navel. He tilted his head to the side a little bit and gave Barry a quizzical look. ‘YOU HUNGRY YOU?’ 

‘YES.’

‘ME HUNGRY ME.’ 

Although he thought the word placement was weird, Barry could get the gist of what Wally was trying to say. He handed the paper with their fingerprints to the boy, then put his tools away and cleaned his work table. He took the paper back so he could hold Wally’s hand and lead him out of the room. They walked back through the bullpen to the entrance. Wally waved at the cops as he passed their desks. Some of them waved back, which amused Barry. He found it kind of surprising Wally was so outgoing. He would’ve thought someone who was deaf might be a little more cautious around people. Once he got Wally in the car he placed the paper on the backseat next to him. Wally once again held up his Flash action figure so they could both look out the window as they drove. Barry picked one of his favorite diners to eat at. Once they parked and he let Wally out of the car, he noticed the boy was still clutching his action figure. He shrugged and led him inside. 

“Hi Barry,” one of the waitresses said. “We haven’t seen you here in a while.”

“I’ve been busy.” 

“Table for two?”

“Yes, one kid’s menu please.”

“Right this way.” The waitress led them to a booth near a window. Wally sat his action figure on the table so it was sitting. It won;t stay up on it’s own so he leaned it against the window. “Here you go. Can I start you two off with something to drink?”

“Coffee, please. Extra-“

”Extra, extra, extra sugar I know. What about you dear?” Wally was busy looking out the window at the busy city street. “What do you want to drink kiddo?” 

Barry clear this throat. “Wally is deaf,” he explained to her confused look. He leaned over the table and tapped Wally to get his attention. When Wally looked at him Barry found the drinks on the kid’s menu. He pointed to them. Wally looked them over before pointing to one. “He wants a chocolate milk.” 

“I’ll be right back with those.” 

Barry turned back to Wally, who was looking over the menu. After a couple of minutes, he pointed to something. “Cheeseburger and fries? Ok.” He realized right after he said it that saying so was pointless since Wally couldn’t hear him. True to the point, after seeing that Barry had seen his selection, Wally took one of the crayons the waitress had given him and started coloring in on his paper menu. Barry watched him unit she returned with their drinks. 

“Do you tow know what you want to eat?” 

“I’ll have two orders of pancakes and three orders of bacon and he wants the cheeseburger.” 

“Whipped cream on your pancakes?”

“Of course.”

“Ok.” After she left Barry checked his phone to see if he had any messages. There was one from Iris asking how Wally was doing. Barry texted her back quickly, reassuring her that was he was good. He’d just sent it when he felt someone tapping his hand. He looked up to see Wally offering him a crayon. He’d moved his menu so it was in the middle of the table. He tapped a section of the menu that had tic-tac-toe boards set up. Barry nodded and accepted the crayon. Wally grinned and draw an X in the first one. They played for a few minutes, filling up all three of the boards printed on the menu. Wally won all three, but that definitely didn’t have anything to do with Barry placing his O’s in places where they could never connect. It definitely wasn’t because he’d used his superspeed to think of possible places Wally would place an X and purposefully not place an O there. As soon as the last game was done, Wally redirected Barry’s attention to another game. A quick speed read of the rules told him that the object was for both of them to create squares in the dots provided by drawing lines. Wally apparently already knew how the game was played, because he had already placed a line. They played this game until their food came and, in accordance with the rules, Wally won due to the fact he had the most squares. (Not because Barry spread his lines out and never really tried to connect them into boxes.) 

Their meal was silent since Wally’s hands were busy as he ate. Barry didn’t really mind it. The silence wasn't awkward or anything. It was comfortable. They weren’t talking because there was nothing to say; merely because this wasn’t a time for communication. Considering how much of a chatter box Barry could be usually, this was a little weird for him. He soon settled in though and enjoyed his pancakes. Wally seemed to enjoy his burger and fries. He ate his whole meal without leaving barely a crumb behind. Barry smiled at him. ‘YOU LIKE?’

Wally nodded. ‘FOOD GOOD.’ Once again Barry clearly didn’t understand what he’d said, so he finger spelled it. Barry nodded, which made Wally smile. He liked that Barry was so good at communicating with him. Normally he only had his interpreter at school and his parents. It helped that Barry liked science and the Flash, just like him. Once his finished eating Wally went back to his menu, making his way through the maze with a crayon. The waitress smiled at him as she handed Barry the check. 

“He’s a cute kid.” 

“The cutest,” Barry agreed, putting the money inside. “Keep the change.”

“You have a good day. Your kid too.”

“He’s not my kid-“ She was gone before Barry could finish his sentence. He shrugged and tapped Wally. 

‘LET’S GO.’

Wally nodded and grabbed his Flash action figure. He followed Barry out of the diner and back to the car. ‘WE GO WHERE?’ he asked once he was sitting in the backseat and buckled. Barry smiled and leaned closer. He pressed his thumb and pointed fingers into each of his temples, then pulled them away and made L like shapes with them. 

‘SURPRISE.’ 

Wally grinned at that. He swung his legs excitedly as they drove through the city. He and his Flash action figure watched as the people passed them by the dozens. He wondered if any of them were like him. If they were deaf. If they were, he was happy they could navigate the city so easily. Keystone wasn’t that hard, but he’d never been allowed to do it by himself. His parents always told hm it was too dangerous for him to walk around alone. He supposed that if deaf people living in Central could do it, he definitely could. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice where they were once Barry parked. He got out, giving Barry a quizzical look. He held up his Flash action figure and Barry chuckled. He gently guided ally out of the parking lot towards the front of the building. As soon as it came into view a gasp escaped Wally. It had a high pitched note to it, almost making it sound like he was hyperventilating. Barry looked down at him and started laughing. His mouth was wide open, but he was also smiling at the same time. 

He looked back at the Flash Museum for a minute before he felt a sudden tugging at his hand. Wally was in front of him, pulling Barry along with him. He suddenly dropped Barry’s hand and made very fast signs. ‘LET’S GO! LET’S GO!’ Barry took Wally’s hand again, scared he might lose the kid in his excitement, and followed him. It wasn’t long before they had to stop because Wally wanted to admire the statue out front. He gazed up in wonder and awe. Barry had to look away sheepishly, but he didn’t even notice. Instead, he held up his Flash action figure. People passing by laughed in amusement at the boy who was comparing his toy to the statue. Once he’d gotten his fill, Wally pulled Barry along to the front entrance. Per the Flash’s request, there was no fee to get inside, so they simply walked in the front door. Barry knew there were guided tours, but he decided against them. Wally wouldn’t be able to hear what was going on and Barry wasn’t nearly fluent enough in ASL to properly translate. Besides, he was pretty sure Wally would enjoy being able to explore on his own more. 

So they wandered off down the first wing, with Wally pulling Barry along behind him. The first room the walked into had replicas of the Rogue’s suits. Wally let go of Barry’s hand and ran right up to the first one. It was Captain Cold. He smiled and looked back at Barry. He pointed excitedly at the display case. ‘C-A-P-T-A-I-N-C-O-L-D!’ 

‘YES.’

Wally ran to the next display case. He stared at the next costume for a few minutes, moving his eyes over it like he was trying to memorize every detail. He looked back at Barry again, who was walking towards him slowly. ‘H-E-A-T-W-A-V-E!’

‘YES.’

This went on as they moved through the hall of suits. Wally ran from display case to display case, stopping just long enough to tell Barry the name of whoever had worn the costume. When they made it to the weapons Wally excitement turned into curiosity. He wanted to know how all the weapons worked. After looking over a replica of Captain cold’s cold gun for a few minutes he turned to Barry. ‘COLD GUN WORK HOW?’ Barry looked confused so Wally repeated his question in fingerspelling. 

‘I-D-O-N-T-K-N-O-W.’

That disappointed Wally a little, but then he saw some of Captain Boomerang’s boomerangs on display and his excitement returned. Once he finished there he pulled Barry into the next room. This one was dedicated to newspaper articles written about Flash. The front page headlines were laminated onto the walls all over the room. Wally stopped to read every single one of them. He didn’t get far before discovering something that almost made him start bouncing up and down. ‘AUNT I-R-I-S! AUNT I-R-I-S!’ Barry smiled and nodded. Iris’ name was on a lot of the articles. Wally kept reading all of them, holding up his Flash action figure as he did. He looked down at it after a few minutes, as if to say ‘Look, these are all about you!’ He finished in that room and dragged Barry into the next one. 

This room had trophies from various fights Flash and all over the city. Wally took his time looking at each one. Some of them he knew from fights he’d read about or seen on the news, but others were a mystery to him. He tried imaging what they must’ve been like. The fastest man alive dodging bullets as the bad guys tried to rob the bank. He imaged how amazing it must’ve been to see him zooming around the city, knocking guns off crooks. Barry was slightly uncomfortable with how much admiration Wally showed for his alter ego. 

The next room made Wally stop in the doorway. There was a suit on display in the center but the atmosphere in the room gave him chills. The lighting was really different from the rest of the museum. The other rooms were well lit and bright. This room had no windows and the lights were red, casting the small space in a red hue. Two walls had monitors playing a fight on a loop, but the object in the center of the room had all of the attention. It was a display case containing what looked a lot like a Flash suit, but it was yellow. The lightning bolt on the front was red and pointing to the wrong side. He took a step closer to Barry and grabbed his hand. Barry looked down at him. Wally was clutching his Flash action figure to his body like he was trying to protect it. It really worried Barry that quite a bit of Wally enthusiasm seemed to have suddenly disappeared. He crept forward slowly towards the suit. It was even more imposing up close. This was different than the others. The other costumes weren’t real, but something about this seemed authentic. He turned his attention to one of the monitors. It was made up of footage edited together from various sources. 

In the slowed down video he saw the Flash fighting a guy in the yellow suit. The Yellow Man was punching the Flash, who was trying to get away from him. He gasped a little when the video showed the Yellow Man grabbing Flash by his suit and running him through a glass window. It cut to somewhere else where the Flash was gaining the upper hand, racing the Yellow Man up a building. Then it cut to the Yellow Man stabbing Flash with something. Wally gasped and backed up into Barry. He spun around and buried his face into the man’s stomach. Unknown to Wally, there was a voice-over in the room coming from the speakers in the ceiling. The voice was explaining who the Yellow Man was and his place as the Flash’s archenemy. Wally couldn’t hear this though, which gave him the feeling he was missing something, and it only served to intimidate him more. Thinking quickly, though not quickly enough, Barry navigated Wally out of the room. He guided the boy to a mostly deserted wall until he claimed down. 

Wally looked up at Barry with wide eyes. He started signing quickly, dropping his Flash action figure in his haste. Barry just stared at him in concern. He couldn’t understand anything Wally was trying to say. This seemed to dawn on Wally after a few minutes, making him more upset. He didn’t know why the Yellow Man was hurting Flash! Barry must know, but he couldn’t ask! Why was it he couldn’t communicate with Barry when he really needed it?! Barry crouched down and put his hands on Wally’s shoulders. It was a simple gesture and one that he used a lot as Flash when dealing with people he saved. He really wasn’t sure if it was the right move to make with Wally, but he didn’t know what else he could do. It seemed to be the right move because Wally calmed down. He took a step back and stroked his chin with one finger, then pointed back towards the room. ‘WHO?’

‘R-E-V-E-R-S-E-F-L-A-S-H.’

Wally blinked. ‘R-E-V-E-R-S-E-F-L-A-S-H?’

‘YES.’

Wally placed his hands down by his waist, pointed his pointer finger up on each one, then moved them in circles. ‘EVIL.’ Barry gave him a confused look. ‘E-V-I-L?'

‘YES.’

Wally spelled ‘Flash’, then opened his hands a little on either see of his body, then bought them together and closed his fingers. ‘F-L-A-S-H WIN?’ Barry still didn’t understand. ‘F-L-A-S-H-W-I-N?’

Barry smiled. ‘YES.’ That made Wally smile. ‘HOW YOU SIGN F-E-E-L?’ Wally put his hand on his chest with his middle finger bent and he stroked it against his chest. ‘HOW YOU SIGN H-A-P-P-Y?’ Wally brushed his right hand up against his collar bone towards his face twice. ‘YOU FEEL HAPPY?’

Wally nodded. ‘I FEEL HAPPY.’ As if to illustrate his point, Wally took his action figure back from Barry and grabbed his hand. He dragged Barry into the next room. As soon as they walked in he gasped loudly, making Barry laugh. This room wasn’t at all similar to the last room they’d been in. The room was more like a wide hallway, where the other one had been a smaller square. The walls were red, but there were large windows on both sides, giving the room a naturally bright feel. Walking through the room, Wally’s eyes were glued to the object in the center. It was a Flash suit. The Flash’s suit! He ran forward, leaving Barry behind. He gazed up in awe and reached out to rest his hand on the display case. He looked at his action figure, then back at the suit. Barry smiled as he joined Wally. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Wally looked up at him. 

‘YOU LIKE?’

‘I LIKE!’ He spelled Flash, then put his fingers on his shoulders, then moved them down his chest like the sides of a jacket; then moved the edge of one hand down the middle of his body like a tie. ‘FLASH SUIT.’ Barry didn’t know the second sign, but he was smart enough to guess.

‘YES.’

Wally grinned and looked back at the suit. This was the Flash’s suit. It was the one he used to wear to stop criminals. Unknown to him, a voice over was telling the visitors about the first sightings of the scarlet speedster, but it didn’t matter that he couldn’t hear. Standing in front of the suit of his hero was enough for Wally. He stood there for 10 minutes, smiling at the suit. Eventually, he walked away, finding his way over to the other main exhibit in the room: a Flash ring. This wasn’t as impressive as the suit in his opinion, but it was still really cool. He’d read the Flash kept his suit in a ring so he could change quickly. He looked at Barry, pointed to the Flash ring, rested he backs of his fingers together with his thumbs pointed up and his hands facing his chest, rolled them forward; then opened his hands a little so they could face down, then moved them back and forth. ‘HOW WORK?’ 

Realistically, Barry knew he couldn’t explain the inner workings of the ring to Wally. That information was for the Flash only, so it wouldn’t make sense for Barry Allen to know. Which was a shame, because his inner science nerd was dying to share the Flash ring secrets with Wally. He knew the boy would find it fascinating. All he could do was shrug though. Wally accepted his answer. They moved on with Wally holding Barry’s hand and cradling his action figure with the other arm. The last room they entered was different than the others. The walls were blackboards with pieces of chalk on the floor. Wally let go of Barry’s hand and wandered around on his own. Barry did the same, eyes running over the writing. This room was filled with messages from people all over Central City; thanking the Flash for saving them. His heart raced with every thankful message he saw. From the untidy letters of a child to the loopy script of college professors. Children who thanked him for saving their parents and parents who thanked him for saving their children. It was times like these that remind him why he became a hero. To save people. He glanced back at Wally, who was reading the messages while clutching his action figure to his chest. Well, and other reasons. 

They two eventually met on the other side of the room. Wally handed his action figure to Barry and picked up a pice of chalk. He found a half erased message, erased the other half, and started writing. Barry almost started crying as he read it. 

FLASH,

YOU MY HERO. GROW UP, I WANT BE YOU.

WALLY

Barry looked away so he could compose himself. He didn’t know why he was so emotional, but there was just something so sincere about Wally’s admiration. Once Wally was done he took back his action figure and they made their way back to the entrance. One their way hey passed the gift shop and Barry smiled. Instead of letting Wally lead him, he lead the boy inside. ‘HOW YOU SIGN S-O-U-V-I-N-E-R?’ Wally thought about it then shook his head. ‘YOU WANT S-O-U-V-I-N-E-R?’ Wally nodded eagerly and Barry lead him inside. Wally immediately started looking at everything. The Flash’s lightning bolt insignia was on everything! Mugs, key chains, pencils, notebooks! Barry wanted to buy Wally everything. A voice in his head was reminding him that he had to eat on a speedster diet and pay his rent that month. On the other hand, it would make Wally really happy. Wally picked a plastic Flash ring out of a bin, as well as a notebook that had a collage of the Rogues’ mugshots on it and showed them to Barry. 

‘I WANT.’ 

Barry was surprised that was all he wanted. He held up the ring. ‘WHY?’

‘ME F-L-A-S-H ME.’

Barry smiled. He looked at the notebook and frowned. He held it up. ‘WHY?’

‘I LIKE.’ Couldn’t argue with that. Barry bought Wally the ring and the notebook. Wally snatched them both as soon as the money was in the cashier’s hand and slipped the ring onto his finger. He held his notebook with one hand and his action figure with the other. Barry checked his watch as they walked back to the car. They had to go meet Iris for dinner. He made sure Wally buckled before getting in the car himself. Wally and his action figure enjoyed the view of the city as they drove. They eventually stopped at a building that Wally didn’t think much of. It looked just like all the other apartment buildings around here. Barry opened the door for him and he got out. He gave the man a questioning look, but didn’t say anything as he followed him. They entered the building and took an elevator up to the fourth floor. Barry unlocked an apartment door and stepped back so Wally could enter. He looked around as he did. It was mostly clean, with simple furnishings. He wandered around, then looked back at Barry, giving him a questioning look. 

Barry pointed to himself, made tow thumbs up down by his stomach, then moved them up by his shoulders; then held his hands down by his waist with his palms facing up and moved them circles. ‘I LIVE HERE.’ Wally nodded. That made sense. ‘HOW YOU SIGN M-E-E-T-I-N-G?’ Wally held his hands open then pressed his fingertips together and did this three times. ‘WE MEETING I-R-I-S.’ Wally nodded. He was excited to show his aunt his new ring. Barry’s stomach growled, so he wandered into the kitchen. He grabbed a pre-made sandwich, pre-made for just such an occasion, and ate it while he walked back into the living room. He choked and was momentarily panicked to discover Wally wasn’t there. He panicked as he ran around his apartment looking for the kid. He found Wally in his bedroom, and it was really lucky that Wally’s back was turned towards him, otherwise, his secret identity wouldn’t have been so secret anymore. He gently guided Wally back to the living room and sat him down on the couch. ‘YOU LIKE T-V?’ Barry’s mind caught up with his hands and he was afraid that was the stupidest thing he’d said all month, but Wally nodded. Barry found a cartoon that looked alright. He looked at Wally who nodded, then leaned over, studying the remote. He pushed a button and subtitles appeared on the bottom of the screen. He nodded and sat his action figure on the couch next to him. 

They spent the last hour until Iris got off work like that. She got in using the key Barry had given her and started giggling. Barry, Wally, and a small Flash were all sitting on the couch watching cartoons. Barry was munching on a sandwich and Wally’s full attention was on the tv. Iris smell as she leaned over the back of the couch and gave her boyfriend a hug. “Oh hey sweetie,” Barry said, not taking his eyes off the tv. He took a bite of his sandwich. “Wait, you are Iris, right?”

“If only the Rogues knew how easy it was to sneak up on you,” Iris teased. 

“I’d have more problems than that if Captain Cold knew where I lived.” 

Iris laughed and walked around to the front. She put her hand on Wally’s head to get his attention. He looked up and smiled. He jumped to his feet so he could give his aunt a hug. Iris returned it, then took a step back. She raised her eyebrows, then pointed to Wally, then made a fist with he pointer and middle fingers extended on each hand and held one up by her nose and the other by her chest. She moved the one by her nose up, then down onto the one by her chest. Then tapped her chest twice with her fingertips. ‘YOU FUN HAVE?'

Wally grinned widely. ‘YES. BEFORE LAB WE GO. BEFORE F-L-A-S-H-M-U-S-E-U-M WE GO.'

“Is he saying good things?” Barry asked. Wally’s back was turned to him so he couldn’t really see what he was saying. 

“He’s saying you lost him.”

“It was only for like two minutes and we right here in the apartment I just turned my back for two minutes I was just really hungry-“ He stopped when he saw the look Iris was giving him. “I’m sorry?”

Iris sighed. “At least you didn’t lose him downtown somewhere.”

“Let’s try to remember that.” Luckily, Iris simply laughed and leaned over Wally to give Barry a kiss. Wally looked up, making a face when he saw what they were doing. He slipped out from between the adults, allowing them to embrace. A few seconds later Wally re-appeared, pulling on Iris’ shirt. She turned to him and he held out his Flash ring. ‘I LIKE.’

‘B-A-R-R-Y BUY.’ 

Wally made a dash over to the couch and grabbed his new notebook. He held it out so Iris could see it. She raised an eyebrow at the Rogues on the cover but smiled when her nephew started bouncing up and down in excitement. ‘I LIKE.’

‘B-A-R-R-Y BUY.’

“You didn’t have to buy him anything,” Iris said to her boyfriend as Wally sat on the ground, once again distracted by the tv. 

“I know,” Barry replied, “but he was so excited when we were there and I figured a souvenir would make him really happy.”

Iris smiled and kissed him. “You’re a sweetheart.”

“I know.” They leaned in to kiss again, only for Wally to worm his way between them. He looked curiously between the adults, head swiveling back and forth. Iris giggled and crouched down after tapping Wally on the shoulder. 

‘YOU HUNGRY YOU?’

‘YES.’

“He’s hungry.”

“Me too,” Barry agreed. “Let’s get something to eat before I waste away.”

“I doubt you’ll waste away.”

“We can’t take that chance.” 

“I suppose we can’t.” Iris put her arm around Wally and handed him his notebook. She held Barry's hand with her free arm as they left his apartment. 

“Where should we go?”

“I think Wally would like that taco place next to Central Bank.”

“I love that place!”

They reached the first floor and Iris tapped Wally’s shoulder again. She pulled her hands towards her body, then made tow fingers walk quickly across the air with her right hand, then finally pointed to him. ‘WANT WALK YOU?’

‘YES,’ Wally signed enthusiastically. 

“Looks like we’re walking.”

“Its so far!” Barry complained. 

“Says the man who ran to Italy for pasta last week.”

Barry didn’t say anything to that. Wally slipped out of Iris’ grasp, much to her alarm, only to move between Barry and Iris; breaking their hands apart. He handed his notebook to Barry and his action figure to Iris, then grabbed each of their hands. He smiled and started swinging their arms as they walked. Barry got into the motion of it, swinging his other arm as well. Iris simply laughed at them. The restaurant was busy, which wasn’t unusual for a Saturday night. Wally was unconcerned with all the noise and people, simply sitting between his aunt and her boyfriend, happily playing with his ring. They were waiting for a table when something in Barry’s pocket beeped. He stepped away for a minute, discreetly moving his hand from his pocket to his ear. Iris was momentarily distracted by Wally pointing out the color masks on the wall. When Barry came back he had a look on his face Iris knew all too well. 

“Your friends need your help?” she asked. 

“Clark promises it’ll be fast. Some killer robots attacking downtown Metropolis.”

“Tell Lex he has the worst timing.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Go save the world.”

“I’ll be back before appetizers. Promise.” Barry put his hand on Wally’s shoulder to get his attention. ‘I LEAVE.’

Wally pouted. ‘WHY?’

‘WORK.’

Barry honestly hated seeing the kid so disappointed. He wanted to reassure Wally he’d be back soon, but his comm beeped again, reminding him of the seriousness of the situation. He slipped away from them while Iris explained Barry would be back. She lost sight of him quickly in the crowd, but her attention was re-directed to Wally. The two of them played ISpy for a while until they were finally shown to a table. Wally immediately began coloring on his coloring pages he was provided. 

“Can I get you something to start with?” 

“Sorry about that,” Barry smiled, slipping into his seat with only minimal super speed. 

“We’ll have an order of nachos,” Iris answered, giving Barry’s hand a squeeze. Barry put his hand on Wally’s shoulder, getting the boy’s attention. Wally’s face lit up when he saw Barry had returned and pointed to a tic-tac-toe game on one of his coloring pages. “You took care of that fast.”

“I didn’t want to miss dinner.” 

Iris laughed and watched as he and Wally played games in-between eating nachos and ordering their tacos. The sun had gone down by the time they’d finished eating and it was time for Wally to go home. They walked back to Barry’s apartment building and after a quick round of Rock, paper, scissors, decided to take Barry’s car to drop him off. Wally was content and swinging his feet as Central City disappeared behind them. He was tired but he was also really excited to tell his parents how his day had been. It was so dark he couldn’t recognize his house when they pulled up, but he trusted Barry and Iris had brought him to the right place. Barry let him out of the car and Wally ran up the front steps. He let him in and bolted into his mom’s arms. She smiled and gave him a kiss on the head. He ran over to his dad while his mom turned to Barry and Iris. 

“Was he good?” she asked. 

“He was amazing,” Barry told her. 

“How did he handle the crowds?” Rudy asked, a hint of concern in his voice. 

“He was fine, honest. He seemed like he was really enjoying himself.” 

Wally had set his action figure on the table and was showing his parents his notebook and his ring. His dad ruffled his hair to show his amusement, something he did often with his son. ‘B-A-R-R-Y I-R-I-S- LEAVE. SIGN GOODBYE.’ Wally nodded and set his notebook next to his action figure. He ran to Iris and gave her a big hug. She returned it and kissed his forehead. Wally then turned to Barry and, much to the man’s surprise, gave him a hug as well. Barry grinned as he hugged Wally back. 

‘THANK YOU,’ Wally signed after he’d stepped back. 

‘YOU’RE WELCOME,’ Barry replied. 

Mary touched Wally’s shoulder and signed something to him quickly. He nodded and left the room taking his toys upstairs with him. “He’s getting ready for bed. It’s past his bedtime,” Mary explained. 

“It’s past Barry’s too,” Iris replied. “We should get back to Central.”

“Thank you so much for taking him.” Mary gave Barry a hug. “I know he must’ve loved it.”

“Anytime. I had a great time spending the day with him.”

“This one’s a keeper sis,” Rudy said quietly, hugging his sister. 

“I know,” Iris whispered in reply. Barry and Iris left, the speedster’s arm thrown over his girlfriend. “Thank you for spending the day with Wally.”

“I was happy to do it,” Barry replied. “He’s a great kid.”

“The best.” 

Upstairs in his room, Wally was in his pjs, sitting at his desk. He opened up his notebook and started dealing all about his day with Barry.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed this story. Again, I apologize if the ASL grammar is bad. I'm still working on getting the hang of it. Hopefully, I'll get better as the stories go on.


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